Symbiote Surprises
by ardentpoet
Summary: PG 13 to be safe. Peter's time with the symbiote comes to an end, or does it?...All available chapters posted, writer's hiatus until further notice.rn -ardentpoet
1. Confrontations

Symbiotes and Surprises

Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: All characters mentioned herein are property of Marvel Entertainment_

Peter Parker's alter ego, Spiderman, climbed a high—rise at lightning speed. It had been nearly a week since he had, by chance, happened upon that experiment his father had been working on when he died. The suit had done amazing things for him; he was faster, stronger, better in every way. He found he even had a greater passion for fighting the evildoers of the town. It was as if the suit, originally a beaker of black goo, had known exactly what he would need and had given it to him.

He remembered it as if it were yesterday. He and Eddie Brock had been exploring their father's lab, looking for any remaining fruits of their combined labor. The search had proved fruitless when Peter's Spider—Sense went off. However, this was different. It wasn't the normal forewarning of imminent danger; it was a sort of curious call for attention towards a plain wall.

As Peter explained his eerie feeling that something was there they had missed, Brock answered him with skepticism, saying, "Parker, you and I have been friends for a while now, but this is ridiculous. There is absolutely nothing here! We have searched the entire lab for over three hours and not found anything! You can stay if you want, but I have a story to write. Unlike you, I have a good, regular job!" Brock left in cynicism. He had always liked Peter, but Peter was becoming more an unknowing lunatic than a good, intuitive friend.

Meanwhile, Parker approached the wall his Spider—Sense had warned him of. He started to knock upon it and found that it was very thick, with the exception of one small circular area. Peter wondered, _why would something be hidden so well, and why by my father? Wouldn't he want me to find out about it?_ Peter struggled with the decision about whether or not so just bust through the hollow circle and discover the hole's contents. It would not be difficult at all; he was Spiderman and could simply kick through the circle; he might even be able to kick through the rest of the wall for that matter. Arriving at a decision, Peter decided that some things, perhaps, are not meant to be found, and started to walk away. But as he was walking away, something kept lingering in his mind. Something that told him that what was behind there was worth the time and effort of finding out.

Peter walked back towards the faux wall and took a solid stance in front of the hollow section. Then he jumped and smashed his foot through it, hearing the cracking of wood and, secondly, the shattering of glass. Peter pulled his foot away to look for injuries, but his boot had shielded him from that. Putting on a glove to protect his hand, Peter reached into the hole, instantly noticing that the hidden wall was actually a large freezer. Feeling around inside, Peter found a small, frozen object, in the shape of an Erlenmeyer flask, and pulled it out. In his hand, Peter found a small, black, conically shaped block of ice. _Black ice? My father went to all this trouble for a little block of black ice? _Peter pulled the glove off and let the block of ice sit in his hand. It wasn't even cold like a block of ice should be; that was cool. _Wow, maybe he invented some sort of coolant or something. This is awesome! I bet this has some sort of power—_

But before Peter could finish speaking, the block of ice melted instantaneously. Spilling out over his hand and onto the floor, Peter reached for his jacket to try and wipe the black substance, now a goo, off himself. But, the more he wiped, the more difficult the goo was to get off his hand. It was almost as if it was resolidifying on his hand. Shortly, the goo left on his left hand became a thin, stretchy layer that was impossible to move. _Okay, this is a problem; this goo won't come off and I need to be going. _

Suddenly, as if on cue, the part of the goo that had dripped onto the floor started inching its it way toward Peter's feet. Peter, in a panic, started running towards the door. However, when a cold, wet sensation suddenly covered his lower arm, he stopped to look at it. In shock, Peter saw that the black stretchy film had crept up his arm and was dissolving the t-shirt he wore. Peter screamed when the other half of the goo reached his feet and dissolved his shoes and pants as it crawled up his body. _Crawled? A thing? It was alive?_ Peter watched in horror as the substance kept moving across his body. Pawing at the black substance, Peter only succeeded in getting the substance on his right hand. As crawled up towards his head, the substance began to bubble and shake violently. The motion knocked Peter to the ground, forcing him to succumb to the mess. The messy substance started to expand, forming a large mass of man and black goo that simply looked like a large heap of random shapes. Peter reached a black arm out of the mass, as if struggling for a last moment of life. _This must be what my father hid this from me for! That black ice was some sort of acid and I have going to be eaten alive! Why couldn't I ignore my Spider-Sense just once?_ At that point, the arm fell back into the heap. Suddenly, the heap receded, seemingly to nowhere, and left Peter's motionless body lying on the floor of the lab.

_Wake up, _came a voice from out of nowhere. Peter imagined he was dreaming.

_Wake up, Peter, _said the voice again. Still unconscious, Peter played along with the dream. Peter got up and saw that he was still in the laboratory.

_Now get us out of here! _said the voice with a certain sense of panicked urgency. Guessing that he had some person with him that he had just saved from the clutches of danger, Peter ran from the laboratory.

_Turn left! _came the voice again. Peter obeyed and found the entrance to the lab from whence he came. Peter stumbled out the door. _ Don't stop now; keep going!_ The voice guided him. Peter kept running.

Suddenly Peter was thrown to the ground. Hitting his head on the pavement, Peter regained consciousness and saw that he really had just run from the lab, with the only difference being that where the lab had once been, there was now a huge explosion. Flames engulfed the building. Peter watched in horror as sections collapsed, windows exploded, and doors erupted into flames. Realizing his plight, Peter looked down at his hands. Apparently the black substance hadn't been a dream either. But he wasn't dead; in fact, his head didn't even hurt from the impact with the ground. Looking at his wrist, Peter found that his watch was gone. Figuring that it was well past midnight, Peter shot a web line towards town; it was going to be a long day.


	2. Moving Day

Chapter 2: Moving

_Disclaimer: All characters mentioned herein are property of Marvel Entertainment_

At the top of that high—rise Peter had been climbing stood a huge white mass. Peter smiled; he was proud of his work. Well, now it was _their _work, now that he had been with the symbiote. Standing in front of him was a body—shaped web sac which covered a most unfortunate man. The only hole in the entire body—covering webbing was around the man's nose so he could stay alive. Peter walked over to the sac and pulled it apart with simply his black hands. Out fell a trembling man, clothed in normal street garb.

Peter started to monologue with the man, saying in his now symbiotic tone, "work, now that he had been with the symbiote. Standing in front of him was a body—shaped web sac which covered a most unfortunate man. The only hole in the entire body—covering webbing was around the man's nose so he could stay alive. Peter walked over to the sac and pulled it apart with simply his black hands. Out fell a trembling man, clothed in normal street garb.

Peter started to monologue with the man, saying in his now symbiotic tone, "**You! You killed my Uncle Ben! You destroyed my family and my hopes to live a normal life! You robbed my Aunt May of the love of her life and have wrought depression upon her! For that, you must pay!" **

The man looked up at the younger man in fear. Trembling, he replied, "I-I-had no idea! I-I-I'm sorry! You have to believe me!"

The man's remarks seemed to only anger his aggressor more: "**You had no idea! No idea! No matter. **Picking up the man by two tentacles that shot out from Peter's sides, Peter held the man right in front of his face and stuck out a long, slender tongue, dripping with green saliva, to get a foretaste of his prey.** Soon, as I consume your brain, you will know what pain you have caused me! Wait, you'll be dea—"**

Peter stopped in mid—sentence, realizing what he had just said. It was never his desire to kill _anyone_, even someone who had done so horrible a deed. Peter, still with the man hanging by his tentacles, looked down at his hands in fear and saw two hands that were growing further appendages. Long claws were extending from his normal fingers. _I've become a monster!_ Peter thought. Suddenly, a strong presence started speaking in his head. _Let us be free, let us truly help you be free of those who have hurt you and those you hold dear! Let us all become one!_

Responding verbally, Peter shouted, still in the symbiote voice, "**No, we will not let you!**" Peter inwardly shrunk back; the symbiote presence was becoming too strong for him to master. Mustering the strength to leave the situation, Peter dropped the man from his grip and shot a web towards the next building. As he landed, the symbote spoke to him again, now speaking verbally with the same voice Peter used.

"**Why did we leave him? He deserved to die!"**

"**Because we—I am not like that!"**

"**Yes, we are. We are venom!"**

"**No! I am Peter Parker! I am Spiderman! I have the love of my life, Mary Jane Watson!"**

"**Yes, we are all those things too. And soon we will have Mary Jane with us as well."**

Peter struggled with the symbiote for ultimate control of his mind. The thought of Mary Jane bonded with him and the symbiote horrified him, and he lost his concentration. Peter felt the symbiote slowly invading the parts of his mind that held the thing most dear—Mary Jane. As it started to take them into its blackness, Peter's thoughts of keeping them from this monstrosity were changed to an uncontrollable desire to have her with him.

Suddenly, a clock tower extending from the building on which Peter stood struck midnight. Peter felt an immense pain shoot through his mind. _Yes! _he remembered. _We—the symbiote—is vulnerable to sound waves!_ Struggling for control of his body, Peter forced his legs forward toward the clock tower, all the while holding his head. As he walked, random tentacles shot out from his body, a display of the symbiote's pain. Finally, after the twelfth toll, the symbiote, weakened to the point of exhaustion, liquefied and slid off Peter's body.

Peter Parker walked away from the tower where he had disengaged from the symbiote. He didn't know what to think because he had been under the influence of its power for the past few weeks. It had spoken to him, giving him suggestions as to what to do, who to kill, who to allow to live. He was tired and ready to go home to Mary Jane, try to fix the relationship once again from the rift that the symbiote had caused, and return to life that would be as able as could be expected for a man with the ability to walk on walls and shoot webbing from his hands.

The symbiote was hurt by and angered by Peter at the same time. The symbiote had nearly gained full control of Peter's mind and body and wanted him back. At the same time, the symbiote abhorred him so much that it was ready to strangle him, force the lifeblood out of him, ready to make him suffer. A semi—gelatinous mass, the normally pulsating blob stopped; it had come up with a plan. Suddenly, it was on the move again—moving with purpose.

Mary Jane Watson stepped out of a public bus like every other night, except that it was 3 o'clock in the morning. She was exhausted from the party that had ensued that would serve to close her most recent gig, _The Importance of Being Earnest_. To her, things were finally starting to look up. She had held the lead of a major Broadway production. Her performances had been viewed by thousands of people, some of which were scouts from television studios in Hollywood, others that were representatives for businesses interested in a new spokeswoman, and still others that simply were adoring fans, showering her with the appreciation she had never been allowed growing up under an abusive father and a mother she never knew. Granted, the thunderous applause and screaming fans were shallow as she was a nobody and many of them had come to see other performers, but the appreciation was more than enough to raise her from the pit of despair she had been raised in.

As she began to walk the five blocks back through Manhattan to the crumbling brick building that encompassed her apartment, Mary Jane noticed that the night was extremely quiet. It was too quiet. Normally there would a certain white noise—boisterous children arguing with parents, the rumble of the subway as its cars passed underneath the street, an occasional taxi that carried the drunken partygoer home; tonight there was nothing. Her heart beating furiously, MJ sped to a quick walk.

Fear gradually increased. MJ stopped, sensing a second presence nearby. With a certain sense of urgency, MJ whipped around. Nothing was in sight. The dead silence was just that—dead. With a certain feeling of relief, MJ took a sigh of relief and turned around, only to see a massive, black blob sitting right in front of her. MJ started to scream but her scream was muffled as the blob swiftly leapt onto her mouth. The blob became a thick liquid as it slowly spread with long, slender tentacles across her body. As it made its way down her body, MJ shook in fear and began to let out a stream of tears. At last, it created a tight skin—like cast over her body, engulfing her in its darkness. The female mind, though strong, was no comparison to its past host. The black mass fell to the ground, writhing and seething. The black goo swirled around the female, taking advantage of its volatile emotions, especially its fear. Finally, like it had Peter, the symbiote receded into a skin—tight body suit and forced the wearer to stand. Jerking its right hand up, the female shot a web line towards a nearby building and swung away.


	3. Dreams

Chapter 2: Discoveries

Peter shot a web from his web shooter to his apartment window. It had been a long night and he was ready to retire. The parting of the symbiote had cost him a lot of energy—energy it had produced for him. He was starting to grow accustomed to being Spiderman with those enhancements, but he was glad to be "normal" Spiderman again.

At the same time, he was wondering about MJ. He hadn't seen her since prior to her cast call at the theater. He had faith that she was fine, though.

MJ woke up in her apartment, screaming from what seemed to be a dream. She had dreamt that on the way home from the last performance of _The Importance of Being Earnest_ that she had been overtaken by some wild black force that forced its way onto her body. She frantically looked down over herself, finding only fleshy peach skin, a white t-shirt, and a pair of velvet pajama bottoms. _But it was so real_, she told herself. MJ laid back down and started to drift back to sleep, back to the serenity of the dream world. Slowly she found her way back. She would enjoy the rest of the night, her mind at ease and her body at peaceful rest.

Or so she thought. For at that moment, the symbiote forced itself over her body, covering every piece of skin from head to toe. From being bonded with Peter nearly to the point of permanence, the symbiote knew full well of the deep-seeded love that had been hidden but steadfast through her love affairs with Harry and John Jameson. Her sense of a true protector, a true provider, a true lover rested in Peter's hands. The symbiote insidiously kept MJ's mind asleep, placing her safely in the arms of her lover, Peter, as they drove down a mountainside highway in a convertible with the top down. In her mind, MJ sat in the candy apple red car, her hair waving in the wind, not a care on her mind. From time to time Peter would like over at her, smile, and with his facial expressions say "I love you" as if she could hear his voice whispering in her hear. Sometimes, for the fun of it, Peter would look over at and begin to ponder her beauty of physique and soul for longer periods of time. MJ would begin to get nervous, but Peter would reassure her with the fact that he had an uncanny sense of the future that would tell him if he were in any danger. So, they would never go over that cliff. And even in the rare chance that his Spider—Sense would fail, Peter was, after all, Spiderman; he could simply save himself, her, and the car on top of that, with little effort or strain.

Peter would eventually stop the car at a small overlook. Peter asked her, "How would you like to go for a ride?"

Confused, she answered, "But we just took a ride—and a breathtaking one at tha—" Before she could get her last word out, Peter swept MJ into his arms and took her on a ride across the cliffs.

Only minutes later Peter landed, telling MJ to hang tight as he reached for the trunk of the car. Taking out a blanket and basket, the two sat perched upon the overlook, sharing stories of plays, television shows, mad—scientists bent on world domination and quirky effects of genetic mutation as they sipped hot but not scalding hot chocolate with the night skyline of Paris in the distant background. As the sun began to set, Peter built a fire around which they both huddled to keep warm. A cool breeze came up, and Peter pulled a second blanket from the car. Peter crawled up to MJ's side as he pulled the blanket around the two of them. MJ gave out a mighty yawn and laid her head upon Peter's shoulder, slowly drifting away to a dream. Peter looked up from where they were cuddled around the into the Paris skyline, content with—

The symbiote, satisfied with the feigned feeling of security it had pulled around MJ's mind, took her now submissive body up to a stand. Looking over itself in a mirror, it saw the feebleness of the female host it employed. However, the symbiote knew its need for not just any host, but that specific host. Maintaining its stationary position, the symbiote gradually adapted itself to its smaller, weaker host. It knew it would have to be ready for the battles of body and mind that lay ahead. It sensed MJ was less capable physically but certainly the formidable foe mentally. She seemed even more mentally capable of insidiousness and conniving than Peter. She might make a good host after all.

Having made the necessary changes, the symbiote smiled at itself. Having just assumed a new host, it showed no sign of pointy teeth, razor claws, menacing eyes, or rippled muscles thus yet. It saw the same white spider emblem, the same white oval eyes, the same pitch blackness that had once enveloped Peter Parker as when it had when it had initially undertaken the daunting task of gradually gaining control over his mind. This was going to be a challenge, but be fun.

And with that, the symbiote, along with the present but oblivious MJ, liquefied into a black puddle and slipped under MJ's apartment door into the hallway. Noticing a small open window, the symbiote slid along the wall, flowed out the window tentacle by tenacle, and found a solid piece of brick wall. Slowly it formed back into the shape of its host. Letting out a menacing snarl, the symbiote shot a web from its host's wrists and leapt out into the city.


	4. One of Those Days

Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: All characters mentioned herein are property of Marvel Entertainment_

Traffic had come to a halt in the city. It was that time of morning where nothing moved; there were two hundred new statues in the city, most of them yellow with black and white checkering on their sides. Angry drivers shouted and honked their horns as they, the ones unfortunate enough to have to drive themselves to work, prayed in frustration that they might be spared by a relentless boss. For some, it was J. Jonah Jameson. That overbearing, relentless, wealth-seeking media giant who signed their less-than-welfare checks. Peter Parker was lucky; he could grab the nearest building be across town from his apartment in ten minutes. But ten minutes wouldn't help when he was already late.

Struggling to stay awake as he crawled across buildings and leapt from one to another, Peter thought, "Oh man! Late again! Jameson is gonna fire me for sure! And time the secretary—ooh, she's saved my job seven times and I can't remember her name—won't be able to talk him out of this one." However, as important as keeping his job was, he couldn't help but think about the symbiote. Someone was going to have the misfortune of having it force itself onto him and slowly lose all ability to control mind and body. But that could wait until after he pleaded with Jonah.

"I don't care if you take pictures of that webbed menace like Keaggy plays a guitar! You're late, and I don't pay you enough to give you a pay cut! You're fi—"

"Wait, wait, Mr. Jameson, I can explain this! I was out late taking pictures of Spiderman with that new black costume he's been wearing for the past few days and—"

"What, pictures, where? Why haven't I seen these pictures? Where's my secretary? Where's my coffee?" Mr. Jameson's designated coffee-making walks in. "Why are you late? Why are you still here?" Before the poor page boy could say word, Jameson kicked him out of the office, taking the coffee cup from him.

Jameson's secretary walked in. "Yes Mr. Jameson?"

"Quick, write a new headline. Try this: _Back in Black! Spider-menace has new duds for new crimes!_" Jameson mused as he pictured the headline in midair with his hands formed into an "L" shape. The secretary scribbled the new convicting slogan on a Palm Pilot and left. As he panned across the air, Jameson accidentally knocked his cup of coffee over, spilling it across his shirt and into his lap. "Get my secretary in here!" Jameson screamed with brewing anger.

"Yes Mr. Jameson?" the secretary answered with learned cool.

"Get the coffee guy and tell him he's fired!" The secretary nodded, made another note, and left.

Jameson, obviously lost in the moment of his now marble—colored shirt and pants, said, "Parker, where were we?"

"The pictures of—"

"Right, the pictures. Give 'em here."

Jameson began to shuffle through the stack of nearly twenty pictures with limited interest. "Dud. Horrible. Faked. Failure. Useless. Parker, you're fired!" And with that, Jameson slid the pictures into his desk to be used in the next day's _Daily Bugle_.

As Peter came through Jameson's door, the secretary noticed the usual downtrodden look Peter had when he had been fired the other seven times, smiled, and said, "He's having an unusually bad day. First, he lost a cufflink at the gala last night and now he's got coffee on his new shirt. Same as usual. One hundred and fifty—five. See you tomorrow." Peter took the envelope she held toward him and walked toward the stairs. He would all twenty—three stories to the ground to catch his breath from today's near—firing experience. Suddenly, Peter's Spider—Sense went off. Peter looked out the window and saw a gang of thugs that had encircled a young man. The man was already bloodied a little from the initial skirmish and was beginning to lose his strength. Peter ducked into a shadowy alcove. _Man, of all the times_, he thought. Praying no one would see him changing, Peter slipped his mask over his face just as a janitor rounded the stairs. Peter made his way toward the window, opened it, and leapt out into the streets to save the young man.

But there was something lurking that posed more danger than any gang ever could. Having gotten to know Peter extremely well over the past week, the figure had learned to protect itself from Spiderman's foresight. A slender black hand reached itself onto the glass of the window Peter had just leapt from. The symbiote made its way to the next building, following Peter at a distance. It actually enjoyed seeing Peter in action. It loved seeing such power exerted in one man. One man that had been the ideal host. Spiderman finished lacing up the last thug into a webbing net, helped the grateful young man to his feet, and swung away, leaving the symbiote there at the block.

The symbiote smiled. It knew what it had conceived was a good plan, and so far it had gone just as planned. Its host was still oblivious, but not for long. It would play a game with her of sly tricks and gain the upper hand in the end. Things were going well. It was going to be fun. Tonight would be a night to be remembered.


	5. Blind Date

Chapter 5

_Disclaimer: All characters mentioned herein are property of Marvel Entertainment_

It was thankfully the end of the day for Peter Parker. He sighed in contented relief knowing that he had spent himself protecting the city he lived in, the city he loved. He wasn't always able to say he loved being Spiderman, couldn't always say he wanted to be the protector of the city, but today was one of those days where he knew he was okay. Like he was meant to be right here, right now. Somehow, today Peter felt things were going to be alright. Maybe gangs would never stop forming and terrorizing innocent bystanders. Maybe unfortunate kids would never stop slipping into glowing symbiotic pools and need to be saved from the danger they posed to the city and themselves. Maybe his best friend would never find out the truth about his father's untimely death and keep seeking to wreak revenge on Spiderman. Maybe he would never be bold enough to stand before his girlfriend and profess his love for her since kindergarten. But today, somehow, for some reason, it was all worth it.

Peter sat on the edge of his bed, thinking about the day. He hadn't seen MJ that much; come to think of it, he hadn't seen her at all. He figured he would go over to her place and see her the next day. As for now, he was exhausted. Finding a pair of pajama bottoms, he made his way to bed and settled in for the night.

Suddenly a loud crash came about as a big, dark figure came through Peter's bedroom window. Eyes blurred from sleep for a moment, Peter struggled to see his assailant, only to discover the sight he feared most. A medium tall black figure stood in front of him. No flowing hair, no beautiful clothing; just a tall, black figure with two round oval eyes and a white spider symbol etched across her chest. The worst but inevitable had come: Venom was reborn.

The new monster picked up Peter by the front of his t-shirt and threw him across the room. Peter stopped as he hit the back wall of his closet and made a slight indent in the plaster. Needless to say, he was awake now. Peter struggled to grab a Spidey Suit and get it on while the creature prepared to attack again.

"**Come** **and face us, you who have given up our might!**" the monster cackled in a voice that seemed to sound like a man and a woman at the same time.

"God? You, a god? More like the guy…er…gal who cleans the gum off movie theatre seats!"

"**You** **have forgotten what it is to be powerful!"**

"I would gladly trade that any day for free will!" Peter was stalling for time as he stood cornered by the monster. He was formulating a plan.

"**Free will? We have free will! We are all powerful! We are venom!"** And with that, the creature lunged at Spiderman. Spiderman ducked out of the way just in time and made his way out the now empty window frame. It would be a long night.

As Spiderman fled from his upper apartment window, Venom stayed hot on his trail. Venom, though smaller and without the powers of Spiderman, was more graceful, agile, and cunning; she leapt from building until she collided with Spiderman in mid—air, sending him hurtling down to the roof of a high—rise building.

Spiderman stood up. Minimally affected by the fall, he fired short bursts at Venom's eyes and hands. The creature, still somewhat clumsy and reserved because of its recent bonding, was not able to dodge the shots and was temporarily disabled. Spiderman drove his foot into her chest, sending her flying to an edge of the high—rise. Spiderman then wrapped her in webbing.

"There! That will hold you for now!" he stated defiantly as he swung away. However, only moments later the symbiote liquefied itself and flowed through the webbing. The symbiote reformed the woman's appearance a few feet away from the pile of now empty webbing and let out a mighty howl, screaming, **"You haven't seen the last of us, Spiderman!"** Filled with a deep, piercing anger even more fiery than before, the symbiote fired a line of its own black webbing and swung off into the night.

Moments later the symbiote reached the window from which it had left MJ's apartment. Landing on the brick wall, it liquefied and returned under her door to her bedroom. The symbiote reformed the shape of the woman, laid itself into the bed, and receded into the pair of pajamas MJ thought she was wearing.

Beep! Beep! Beep! Suddenly, an alarm clock sounded its morning call to action. An arm reached out from under a set of pillows and slammed the alarm clock, smashing it to pieces. MJ was up, but she was dead tired. MJ saw the pieces of the alarm clock and assumed it had fallen off her nightstand. Stumbling into her closet as she was still half asleep, she forced an already buttoned up shirt over her head, donned a light pink jacket, and slipped into a pair of trendy jeans. Stopping to check herself in the mirror, MJ pushed a lock of hair out of her face, grabbed her keys and purse, and walked out the door. As she locked it, she looked down at her watch, seeing that it was eleven o'clock. _Oh nuts_, she thought, _I was supposed to meet Peter for breakfast at 9:30! What will I say to him? Well, I guess I'll just tell him the truth…_

…which she thought was that she had been so physically and mentally exhausted from performing _The Importance of Being Earnest _every night over the past six months that she had just slept in that day. After all, she was the female lead. It _was _a tiring, but fun job. She had loved every minute, acting alongside great actors she had previously only dreaming of getting an autograph from. So, she decided to go to the Daily Bugle and look for Peter, knowing that even though it was a Saturday he would still be there, pleading with J. Jonah Jameson to keep his job. MJ hailed a cab and left.

But, deep down, the symbiote was smiling again. It had thoroughly enjoyed its first romp with the new host, even though it had been temporarily beaten. She was inventive and cunning; she would be a rebirth of the symbiote, giving it new agility to add to the strength and powers that Spiderman had left it. And she was still oblivious! It was a great day, one that had gone perfectly as planned…


	6. Epiphany

Chapter 6

_Disclaimer: All characters mentioned herein are property of Marvel Entertainment_

Peter sat somewhat worried at a table in a diner in Manhattan. It was lunch break. It wasn't like MJ to be so unreachable. She was always one to be on time, one who would cover up a problem before she admitted it. When MJ didn't show up for breakfast, Peter returned to the Bugle to keep working on his next Spiderman story. He then returned to the same diner for lunch, hoping MJ would think to come back there. When her father had screamed at her, hurt her, she would always go running out of the house; Peter knew because he would always hear the door slam as she went, sobbing quietly. The next day at school, she would always appear pleasant and cheerful as if nothing had ever happened. He wondered if she had had a late audition for her next job or something.

Suddenly the bell on the door rung, signaling a half—awake MJ walking into the crowded diner. Frustrated from being late, MJ sat down, her jacket on her arm and her shirt in a ruffled mess. A rebel bang of hair fell down the front of her face and she pushed it out of the way.

"Sorry tiger," she apologized, "I was up really late coming back from the show and slept in yesterday. I was so exhausted that I went to bed really early and I guess I slept in again."

"It's okay." Peter looked over at her and smiled. He didn't care. He loved her. He was just glad she was here.

"I came here to the diner, hoping you would still be here. But you weren't. I guess I just missed you." Peter sat there, not saying a single word of condemnation, staring into her eyes as she worked to explain herself. He was entranced by the way she went on. Sometimes Peter was so taken in by that intangible quality of attraction she had that he missed what she was saying; her presence in the room was enough. He could just sit there and listen all day if it weren't for Jameson. It was as if time seemed to slow down. As MJ continued, things in the background faded to low whispers and blurred movements. The two had become oblivious to the outside world; they were not in just any kind of love; they had love that transcended time, space, and other people.

"Then I went to the _Bugle_, knowing Jameson and all, and it was 11:30 by the time I got there. Jameson's secretary said you had just left for lunch, and, knowing how much you like this place, I figured you would come back here and—"

"Shhh," he said, and before she could get another word out, he leaned over the table and kissed her. Now, all doubts were settled. Peter took something out of his pocket. It was a small, gray felt box. He opened it, revealing a silver heart—shaped pendant. MJ was silenced by such a gift of love. He got up, walked behind her, and put the necklace on her, taking care to smooth her hair as he went. As he finished, they embraced. Then Peter returned to his seat. Continuing, he asked, "Are you alright? I didn't see you all day yesterday. And today you seem to be really rushed."

"I'm fine. Really, I'm okay," MJ answered half through a yawn. "I was just _so_ tired from the play that I guess I just kept sleeping. I missed you though. I missed seeing you and being with you. I'm sorry ti-i-i-i-gu-u-u-uhr." MJ fought back fatigue as she talked; it was obvious she was still tired from the show. Peter smiled, knowing she needed rest.

"It's alright. I love you. Come on, I'm gonna take you home." And with that, Peter got up and walked with her out of the diner. Stopping in an alley for just a minute to don his suit, Peter took her up in his arms and swung away from the busy Manhattan street. As they swung across the city, Peter looked down at MJ. She had rested her head on his shoulder and had drifted away to sleep. Smiling like a father holding his daughter in his arms as a symbol of love and protection, he continued across town until they reached MJ's apartment in Queens. Peter landed on the roof and, taking of his mask, he walked down the south face of the building on MJ's window. Opening it, he crawled into her bedroom and laid her down into her bed and pulled the covers up over her. He sat on the corner, still in his Spiderman suit, and lightly stroked her head. MJ gradually regained a little consciousness.

"Hey tiger, I'm sorry I was—"

"Shhh. Rest now. I will see you tomorrow. I love you." And so, MJ submitted to the warm blankets and gentle touch of her lover's hand. Peacefully she returned again to the security of her dreams. Peter leaned over her and kissed her on the forehead. Serenely, she nestled into a relaxing sleep. Quietly, Peter got up from the bed, walked to the window, and crawled back outside.

Back outside, Peter fired a web line and swung back towards Manhattan. It made him happy to see her so peaceful. He was going to be late back to work, but it didn't matter. Forget pictures that would earn him barely enough to have microwavable soup for each meal. Forget Jameson's ranting and raving about Spiderman's threat to society. Forget the _Bugle._ Peter had MJ. He was in love; if that was his portion for life, so be it. He was content. Eventually landing on top of the _Bugle,_ Peter ducked behind a ventilation shaft, put back on his working shirt, trousers, and tie, and walked down the roof access stairway back to his desk. He knew Jameson would have a slew of words ready for him when he got there.

That evening, MJ woke from her sleep. Searching for her alarm clock, she remembered it was broken and fumbled through her purse for her watch. It was 7:30. Sensing a bit of hunger, MJ got up and walked towards the bathroom for a shower. As the water poured down over her, she breathed in a wave of refreshment; the fatigue of the past six months was being washed away in all of fifteen minutes. Feeling rejuvenated, MJ made her way out of the shower and got dressed. She walked to her bathroom, put on some makeup, and then grabbed a beige petticoat. Stopping to look in the mirror, she sighed happily to herself.

She started to walk towards her apartment door, but suddenly a strange feeling came upon her. It was if she was still in the shower and the water was still pouring over her. But this was different. It felt like a wave of water, clinging to her body, came up from the ground. Wait a minute. Not the ground; _it was pouring out of her toes!_ Startled, she walked back towards her mirror. What she saw horrified her. From out of nowhere, a sticky black substance had covered her feet and was beginning to work its way up her legs. Frightened, she fell over onto the floor. Sitting up, she clawed at the material, trying to force it off her body. But clawing only made it worse. The substance then climbed onto her fingers and proceeded down her torso, dissolving her clothes as it went. Having covered every bit of her body save her head, the goo proceeded up her neck, leaving the necklace Peter had given her at the diner intact. However, the pendant and chain disappeared under the substance. MJ had begun to let out a scream, but it was muffled as the goo entered her mouth, forcing itself inside her. She could feel it writhing around inside her, filling each part of her. Suddenly she twitched a bit as she felt it enter her mind. As it entered her blood veins, she felt its presence being circulated through her body, going into every nook and cranny of her existence. Then, the last lock of her long red hair disappeared into the darkness. MJ struggled to look around but couldn't see. Quickly that problem was fixed as two white patches appeared where her eyes once were. Looking into the mirror, MJ was terrified by what she saw. Instead of a beautiful, red—haired young woman that was dressed to go out on the town, she saw a completely black creature with two white eyes patches.


	7. Introductions

Chapter 7

_Disclaimer: All characters mentioned herein are property of Marvel Entertainment_

Mary Jane Watson looked into the mirror with disbelief. A million thoughts ran through her head. What had happened to her? What had she done to deserve this? She would never be able to see Peter again! She would never work in show business again!

Looking down at her hands, Mary Jane saw two black sets of five digits. She screamed; only it came out as a loud, anguished howl. Sinking into a bare corner of her room, she began to cry.

Suddenly a mysterious but calming voice called to her. "Why are you crying?"

"Because my life is over! Peter will never face me again, I will never work again, and I—"

"Calm down," the voice said to her gently. "Walk back to the mirror. Take another look." MJ reluctantly walked towards the mirror. She saw the same ugly blackness, but it slowly started to recede from her, revealing the clothes she had put on just before the blackness had shown itself.

In fear, MJ backed into the bare corner of her room. "What's going on!" she asked the ceiling. Who's there? Show yourself!"

"As you wish." And with that, the black goo flowed back over MJ's body. From her corner, MJ could see what was happening, and she was now more confused than frightened. At this point, she made the connection between the voice and the black goo, which was obviously more than some oil slick "What are you?" she asked tentatively.

"We are an alien symbiotic organism."

"Okay, in English please? Wait a minute, alien!"

"You heard correctly."

"Symbiote? You mean you are living off me?"

"No. That would be a parasite. While we gain life from our host, we give life to our host as well."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Remember when your lover Peter had a suit of black? He was stronger, more powerful than he was without it. That was us. We will make you stronger, more powerful, more agile and graceful than you ever were before. Plus, we are always left with an imprint of our previous hosts. So, you will have the powers of your lover Spiderman, or should we say, Peter."

Suddenly, a white splotch appeared on MJ's chest. Stretching itself across her front, the splotch formed into a spider symbol much like the one that Peter wore on his red and blue suit every day. MJ was starting to warm up to this idea.

_This is really cool! _she thought.

_We know_, the voice responded.

_Wait a minute, I was just thinking that. How did you know?_ she wondered.

_All of our mind and body are one. We share everything; nothing is hidden._

MJ didn't know what to think about this. She stopped thinking for a moment and tried to concentrate on the feelings of her body. She felt like there was someone else there, someone else guiding her, someone else who knew her and when she was tired, hungry, or afraid. She could physically feel the symbiote wriggling itself around her body, filling her veins, encompassing her brain, cradling her mind.

_We sense you are filled with doubt. It is alright; we will help you accomplish your goals, ambitions, and dreams._

Suddenly the suit produced the necklace and pendant Peter had given her earlier in the day. She clutched it with a black hand, feeling a love for him.

_Having been bonded with Peter for a time, we know him. We know his thoughts and desires. He loves you inexplicably. He wants to be with you. Wants to share the rest of his life with you. _Suddenly a new stream of thoughts came flowing into MJ's mind. She saw the city from high points as if she was looking through Peter's eyes. She felt exhilaration. She saw the hardness of J. Jonah Jameson as Peter kept getting fired. She felt anger toward Jameson. She saw herself, sitting across from the table, looking like a mess. It was the scene from the diner earlier today. She felt like she finally understood Peter—why he was often absent—minded, distracted, why he was so busy, why he was always missing her shows, why he was so rushed from place to place, why he was so sad on days where work had taken a turn for the worse. She cried again—this time not for herself, but for Peter. She finally understood why he was the way he was, and it broke her heart.

_I never had any idea…_

_Yes. Peter has had a difficult life, one that has been filled with pain. But, he finds a certain solace in you. _

_Solace…yes! That's it! Together, you and I—we, will change Peter's life! We will help him with all the bad people that have done these things to him and love him, support him, cradle him in our arms. Our? Well, okay, yeah, I guess we can say our. Quick, let's find him. I bet he's out there now, trying to—_

_Slow down! We hardly know each other. You haven't even begun to discover our abilities. Let us go out on the town tonight and become acquainted._

_Yeah, let's go! I can't wait! Lead the way! _

And with that, the voice instructed MJ to walk towards her doorway. She reached for the handle, but the voice stopped her. Suddenly, she felt a weird sensation as her point of view began to drop to the floor. She was melting into a puddle of black goo! This was so cool! MJ willed herself forward and under the door. Out in the hallway, she spotted a small window. Sensing no one around, she willed herself forward again. Slowly and tentacle by tentacle she reached the window and slipped through the tiniest of cracks. All of this was amazing! As she reached the outside of the building, the voice instructed her to will herself back to her original form. MJ focused on a picture of herself and the puddle began to form her feet and worked itself up into a human form, covered in blackness. Realizing she was on a vertical wall, she panicked for a moment but realized she was not falling. _Amazing!_ she thought. She experimented with her arms and legs as she crawled across the wall. MJ climbed down the wall to a dark alley. Leaning against a fire escape, there was a long, steel pole, reaching twenty feet into the air. MJ walked over to it and picked it up. Realizing she was picking up a steel pole over ten times her size, she dropped again in surprise, and it left an indent in the pavement. Picking it up again, MJ lifted the pole above her head, wielding it with the utmost grace. She began to swing the pole around, flaunting her new-found strength, until it slammed into the fire escape, knocking part of it to the ground. She didn't know her own strength.

Then, as the voice began to instruct her again, MJ made her way to the top of the high—rise her apartment was located in and looked out over the New York evening skyline. It was breathtaking! She had never been there by herself; only could she see such a sight when Peter carried her. Suddenly she felt prompted to shoot a web line with her hand. Playing around with several different finger configurations, MJ finally found the correct and shot a line toward the next building. Grabbing the line, she looked over the edge of the building and, for a moment, felt her heart jump into her throat; she was terrified! She began to back way, but the symbiote pushed her forward. Down she plummeted, still holding the thin line of black webbing from the shot. Suddenly MJ felt her left arm jerk up and fire another line of webbing. Still swinging awkwardly across buildings, MJ allowed the symbiote to take care of the web shooting while she took in the city. _Amazing! _she thought. She had never seen anything like this before. So this was what it was like to be flying freely through the town, unhindered by traffic lights, pedestrians, traffic jams, or buildings. This was what it was like to be free!

MJ kept playing around with the webbing until she became comfortable with it and could sustain it on her own without the "autopilot" of the symbiote. Finally coming back to Earth, she landed back on her building.

_You were amazing! _she thought.

_No, we are amazing. We together have power greater than any force on this planet! _the symbiote corrected her.

_Okay, so let's have some fun! Let's try, uh, say, fighting something! _MJ couldn't believe she had just suggested this. She was always the timid one, being taken advantage of by men like Flash Gordon or even her father.

_Sure, but there's no one that will prove a challenge to us. No one except Spiderman…_

_My best friend? Our best friend? Let me get this straight, we want to fight our best friend?_

_Not fight, play with. And besides, we love him, right? _

_Yeah…_

_And we want to see the best for him, right?_

_Yeah… _

_Well, isn't the big thing that created the connection between the two of you us?_

_Uh…yeah! _

_Well, wouldn't there be an even better connection if we were all together?_

_What do you mean? Bond with Peter? _

_No, of course not. Just make him like us this way; make him miss us. You know, play hard-to-get. You knock him around, he knocks you around, we all have fun! _

This idea of "knocking someone around" was new to MJ.

_Besides, _the symbiote continued, _we will all get to know each other more intimately through spending time with each other, right?_

_Right…_

_And you both spend lots of time together as a couple, right?_

_Right…_

_So, you should spend time together as a superhuman pair! _

_Hmm...yeah, that sorta does make sense…that sounds fun! We should definitely do this! I—er—we—are glad we came up with this! Besides, we're in full control in full control and can stop fighting him at anytime. And, Peter could stop us if he really wanted to, right? _

_Right. Peter will be eager to see us and will even play along. All the more reason to. _

_Alright, so when do we want to do this? Tomorrow? _

_Sure! But during the night; it will be more mysterious! And, let's keep this a secret. We don't want to spoil the surprise!_

_Right right! Tomorrow night! But we want to spend time with him as normal Mary Jane tomorrow too._

_Sure; we can definitely do that. Let's go see him for lunch._

_Lunch! Okay, but for now, I'm exhausted!_

And so the symbiote woman climbed down the wall, liquefied herself into a puddle, and flowed through the window and door until she returned to her bedroom. Struggling to find her pajamas without success, the symbiote receded and formed the t—shirt and bottoms that she loved wearing.

_Wait. We can form clothing?_

_Sure. We can create any set of clothing, attire, and even mold objects from our hands. _The symbiote demonstrated reasserting itself over her and molding her left hand into a large sledgehammer. Quickly it receded and turned back into her pajamas.

MJ leapt onto the ceiling and lowered herself into bed from a short line of webbing. She was exhilarated by the new powers, new freedoms, she had acquired. She couldn't wait to go and play with her best friend in his alter ego. She imagined the two of them finally understanding every part of each other and living as a happy superhuman couple. Tired but elated, MJ drifted off to sleep.


	8. Frustrations

Chapter 8

Loud sounds of hard knocking against wood erupted as Peter kept slamming his head against his desk at the _Daily Bugle. _Venom--She-Venom--was back, Jameson was angry, and sightings of MJ were becoming more and more sparse. It was 2:00 P.M, and work, or lack thereof, was dragging on. Looking down, Peter saw that his head had begun to make an indentation in the wood. A bowl shape was forming. He looked into it and pictured Venom wreaking havoc over the city, Jameson firing him for real, and MJ giving a passionate kiss to ol' John-boy. Peter screamed in frustration, got up, and ran to the low—traffic hallway he usually patronized when he was going to go web slinging. Pushing open a window, Peter jumped from the high-rise window, feeling the freedom of the rushing wind as it blew through his hair. Quickly, he shot a line of webbing and caught himself before he reached the ground.

Peter always went web slinging when he was angry or frustrated. The skies were his sanctuary; no one could get to him there. Among the rooftops he found time and silence to think and relieve his frustration.

Finally Peter returned to the windowsill he had jumped from and walked back to his desk. Only minutes after he returned, he could hear the eruptions of Mr. J. Jonah Jameson as his boss brooded about his leaving his desk during work hours. Before he could bang his head again, Peter looked up at his answering machine and saw he had a message. Pressing the button, Peter heard MJ's soothing voice say that she wanted to see him for dinner that day. His spirits instantly lifted, Peter got up from his desk went for the stairs. Despite the increasingly loud explosions coming from the corner office, Peter was up, up, up. Nothing could spoil this day now. So as not to draw attention to himself, Peter hopped on the elevator andmade his way to the bottom of the building.

Walking out the front door of the Bugle, Peter stood upon the threshold of the busy Manhattan street and took in a deep breath. Things were alright. Suddenly, a relentless Jameson poked his head out from the tenth-story window and shouted, "Parker-r-r-, You're fir-r-r-r-r-" Jameson didn't get any farther as his secretary pulled him back into the office. _It's a good thing he's not the symbiote host,_ Peter thought, _or I'd be in over my head! _Pondering again, he mused, _Man, that secretary sure is something. She always manages to cool off Jameson and help me keep my job. She deserves a raise. SHE deserves a mint. Maybe tomorrow I can—_

Peter's voice was cut off by a swift kick that sent him reeling into an adjoining alleyway. Looking out at his assailant, Peter saw a black—clad figure with the traditional white eye splotches and spider insignia across the chest. It was She-Venom alright. Taking his brief moment on the ground to regain his breath, Peter got up, pulled his mask over his face, and prepared to fight the monster that had nearly enslaved him only days ago.

"**What are you waiting for Peter? We are here for you…**" the new host remarked slyly. With that remark, Peter leapt to action. Firing two lines of webbing, Peter aimed at the hosts eyes, but the host quickly liquefied into a puddle, avoiding the webbing. _That's new, _Peter thought. _Why couldn't I do that what that thing?_ Suddenly Peter felt a tug on his web lines. The woman had materialized while he had paused for a beat to think and grabbed his web lines. Before he could let go, the symbiote flung Peter through the first story window of the _Bugle._ Peter got up, took a breath, and went back to fighting the host woman.

As he fought the host, Peter made some observations about the host's behavior. The symbiote woman seemed to be playing with him, toying with him in order to get the best of him. She would toss him to the ground time after time, but never with great intensity. And then she wouldn't even follow up her long—range attacks with another fist or so while Peter was on the ground. Peter was frazzled, but then he began to wonder, _is this some sort of trick? What if the new host is someone I know? _But he quickly dismissed his second thought. Thunk! Suddenly a huge black sledgehammer threw Spiderman into a nearby brick wall. Spiderman was actually beaten, for he expired there. Upside down from the landing of the throw, just before Peter lost consciousness, he saw the symibote woman walk up in front of him, hands on hips, and begin to reach out one black hand to start webbing him into a black sac. But, the woman suddenly started to jerk around erratically. The normally smooth black goo rippled across the host's frame as the two began to twitch. By the time the woman shot out a first web line, it was off target just enough for the webbing to fly over Spiderman's head. Suddenly the goo smoothed again and the host shot another line of webbing—this time towards a neighboring high-rise, and swung away. A relieved Spiderman stumbled up, shot a web line in the opposite direction, and proceeded home. _Oh man, _Peter thought, _this creepy girl has just made me late for my dinner! _A certain anger Peter had not felt since parting with the symbiote started to brew in Peter's gut, but he quickly dismissed it and flew off to his apartment to get changed for the dinner.

"What in the world was that all about?" a frustrated Mary Jane screamed at the symbiote as the pair landed on top of a small building.

"Fun," the voice of the symbiote curtly replied.

"Fun! We nearly knocked unconscious my best friend! That's fun!"

"Calm down, you are overreact—"

"I don't think so! I thought it was really cool to fly and be a puddle, but hurting Peter…I This isn't fun anymore. I think I want you off—"

_Listen,_ the symbiote spoke softly,_ this is just a way to get to know Peter better._

_What?_ MJ began to communicate with it in her thoughts.

_Peter has this alter ego. One he's had for nearly a year now. One he kept from you until just recently. What does that mean?_

_Well, I guess it means he has been hiding things from me…but he did it to protect me!_

_We don't protest the point. But, isn't Peter more than just the average college student you thought you knew?_

…

_Isn't he?_

…_Yes._ Mary Jane felt tears welling up within her as she realized she had no idea who he, as a whole person, truly was. There had always been this half she had never known.

_It's okay you're upset. But you have nothing to fear. We have bonded now with you and Peter. As you stay bonded with us, you will continue to experience the impressions Peter left on us. _

MJ remembered back to the very first day she knew shewas bonded with the symbiote. She remembered seeing the pain of Peter's every day life. She remembered the frustrated and anguish, the conflict between his desires to be with her and his connection to the common person. MJ began to weep. What fight she had in her was being replaced by sorrow for Peter.

_You see, you are getting to see Peter as he really is. As for today, we are encouraging him to be better, to have a bigger voice. Soon, he will come to the point where he will stand up to Jameson and be free of his tyranny. And all that will be because of us, our bonding, our encouragement to growth by a little fun._

MJ slowly stopped crying and formed a new emotion—anger. Anger at the people who had oppressed her lover, anger for those who hated Spiderman, anger toward all the merciless high school kids that had picked on Peter prior to his day of reckoning with the mutated spider. Fueled by aggression, MJ now knew that she really was looking out for Peter by fighting with him. He would be stronger, faster, smarter after fighting the symbiote. He _would_ be new. Smiling, MJ found herself at peace.

_Now hurry. We don't have much time until our dinner with Peter tonight._

_Right right! Dinner! But what will I wear? And my hair, I know I'm gonna have hat—er—symbiote hair when I—_

_We'll take care of that. _And with that, the symbiote formed itself into a short black dress, a pair of stiletto heels, and finally receded from MJ's head, revealing a tightly pulled up hair masterpiece. MJ couldn't help but be impressed. Quickly, MJ climbed down the side of the building and emerged from the alleyway. MJ looked into the window and saw an exhausted Peter being seated by a maitre'd. MJ opened the door and walked inside.

"So the brick says, who's spading you!" Peter quipped as he finished a joke. The two had worked their way through cheeseburgers and sodas at their favorite diner.

MJ noticed Peter's bruises, inflicted by their little "bout of fun", and coyly asked, "Where'd those come from?"

Peter started to stammer over his words. "Uh, you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me."

"Well, remember the black suit I had for few days last week?"

"Sure." This was becoming fun for her.

"Well, some poor woman must have run into it after it separated from me. Now s-s-she's running ra-rampant across the city and I—"

As Peter continued, MJ watched him talk without taking any of it in. She remembered that this was what made her find him so cute. She remembered secretly adoring him as they grew up next to each other. Now, she was just so taken in by him. Gazing into his eyes as he kept talking and sometimes stuttered, she wanted to just jump over the table and kiss him. _Wait a minute, _she thought, _since when have I been passionate about Peter like this? Maybe this is just some added effect from the symbiote._

_Right again,_ answered the symbiote.

_But why, _continued MJ in thought-conversation, _in the world would I want that?_

_Our gifts and abilities cause the host to be more passionate than reserved, more impulsive than restrained. In essence, you will follow your goals, ambitions, and desires more because of this. You are just experiencing this now because only now have webeen together long enough._

_Oh…well, I guess that's alright. But I don't wanna freak him out. Not until we reveal to him our identity._

_Right. We agree. _

"..it will be a problem in the future. What do you think, MJ?" Peter asked.

"Huh? Uh, sure," MJ covered. She didn't realize she hadn't been paying any attention to him over the last few minutes. "Well tiger," she continued, "I'd better go. I have another audition for a play tomorrow. Beauty sleep, ya know? Of course not; you're a guy. Just kidding. But anyways, I love you." Then MJ got up, came around the table, and kissed Peter on the cheek. Quickly she walked out the front door of the diner and out of sight.

_MJ has been really weird, _Peter thought. _On the one hand, she has been doing things like that kiss to suggest she really loves me, but on the other hand, she sure has been distracted lately. I wonder if something is going on. Maybe I should check out her apartment tomorrow afternoon, just to be safe._ And with that, Peter got up from the table, paid the tab, and left.

_Excellent; we like the situation of our host, _the symbiote thought to itself. _Things are going along swimmingly. She is completely none the wiser. Soon it will be time to act; soon it will be time to arise… _


	9. The Last Straw

Chapter 9

_Disclaimer: All characters mentioned herein are property of Marvel Entertainment_

It was unusually a slow night. Peter sat atop the Daily Bugle, waiting for some new incident to alert his Spider—Sense. Yet, there was still nothing to be found. No burglaries, no assaults on young people walking home in the dark alone, no car chases, no nothing.

Then he realized, _Wait a minute, the symbiote was able to attack me the last two times without me realizing she was there. I bet she's out somewhere wreaking havoc like we—I did when I was bonded with it. Hmm…I better make rounds for a better look._

And with that, Peter set out to patrol the city. But it was exactly as it had been before—quiet, without disruption of the peace. There was not even a sign of any symbiote activity. Still Peter felt uneasy, but he returned to the top of the Daily Bugle.

An hour passed, and still there was no activity to be found. Peter grew weary of being a guard without work to do. Giving up his post, Peter decided to go to Mary Jane's apartment, hoping she would at least be there, and if she was there, that she would be awake to talk with him.

With jet black skin, Mary Jane paced her apartment bedroom. She was really beginning to enjoy being the symbiote. She loved the powers, loved flying, loved being stronger and faster. She loved that she had been getting to know Peter's alter ego and was even becoming grateful to the symbiote for the time. The rising anger that had built in her since the last fight replaced her skepticism towards the symbiote with trust.

_So what's the next move? _She asked the symbiote in thought.

_Let's play with Peter again._

_Don't you think it's becoming a little repetitive? Can't we just reveal to him our identity?_

_Let's not be hasty; that time is going to come. Peter is not ready yet. _

_Not ready? We want to be with him now!_

_Ah, we see our tendencies are becoming one. But we must wait until we are fully one for that._

_Fully one! _

_Yes. _

_As in, one consciousness?_

_Yes; is that frightening?_

_No…_Mary Jane replied, not wanting to disappoint her new friend.

Taking intiative, the symbiote spoke aloud with the voice it shared with MJ: "**We can see your anxiety; just trust us; when we are one, we will share everything. We will integrate pasts, present, and our futures. We will be perfect. We will be venom. Then we will be ready to have Peter."**

Mary Jane quipped, "**But when will that day come? We want Peter now!"**

"**Relax, it's practically around the corner. We just need a day to finish bonding minds. We already share bodies and powers."**

"**Alright; a day of waiting. We can take that—"**

_Quiet! Someone is watching us! _the symbiote called to her in thought. _We must hide! No one must know of our connection yet!_

_Yes! We will wait for Peter!_ And with that, Mary Jane willed herself into a puddle and slid under her door into her hallway, out the window, and onto the roof of the complex. Reforming into her slender shape, Mary Jane continued along the edge of the roof to a corner and leapt to the adjoining building where she could look into her bedroom window.

Having not seen She—Venom even on his way over to Mary Jane's apartment. However Peter stopped when he saw a mysterious figure in the room. Taking a closer look, he saw that it wasn't Mary Jane; it was his black—clad nemesis. Suddenly the figure liquefied and slid out of the room. _How does she do that?_ Peter asked himself. Seeing that the figure had left and fearing for Mary Jane's safety, Peter approached the window and entered Mary Jane's bedroom. Panicked, he looked for signs of a struggle. Oddly enough, there were none. He opened the bedroom door and walked through the living room and kitchen. Nothing; nothing but sparkling clean dinnerware and neatly organized appliances. Peter pulled the apartment door open and looked out into the hallway. There he saw an open window and realized the symbiote had left through it. Relieved, Peter thought to himself, _Phew! This is one time I am glad MJ wasn't home!_ Still missing her, Peter stopped to write Mary Jane a note:

Mary Jane,

Missed you tonight. I was hoping maybe we could go

out to dinner again, but I guess you were out. Good thing

too; when I came by, She—Venom was in your room.

Don't worry about that thing; she's just out to make _my_

life miserable; I am sure you will be fine.

Peter

As was his custom, Peter wrapped the note in a thin layer of webbing and left it on her pillow. As he walked back towards the window from whence he came, he stopped. _I bet this has something to do with that girl Gwen Stacy. Maybe she is the symbiote and is trying to get me to date her again. I'd better be careful; maybe she is after Mary Jane. I'd better go warn Mary Jane myself. _Peter stepped up onto the windowsill and shot a web line towards a nearby building. Right as he leapt from the ledge a black clad foot drove itself into his side, causing him to lose his grip on the web line. Falling without a safety line, Peter tapped his wrist to shoot a line but found he was out of webbing. Suddenly a black web line shot down at him from the windowsill and wrapped itself around him. The line pulled taut and Peter's fall was stopped just inches short of the ground. Peter realized, _She-Venom! I should have known! But why did she save me?_ Immobilized, Peter could only speculate as to the creature's mental state as the line holding him was pulled up towards the roof.

When the web line reached the roof, Peter gained a look into the face of his assailant. She wore that same black suit he was had; it had two ovular eye patches and the white spider symbol stretched across the chest. There were no signs of sharp rows of teeth or a long, slimy tongue; apparently the symbiote had not fully taken possession of the host's mind yet.

"What do you want with me?" came Peter's frustrated voice.

"**Nothing. We just want you! You will return to us and we will again feed off your superhuman strength!"**

"Okay; not happening. I will never bond with you again!"

She-Venom inched closer to Peter. Forming a tentacle from its left side, it reached out and caressed Peter's head, saying, "**Don't you remember what it was like with us? Don't you miss us? Don't you miss the power?"**

This last statement caught Peter off guard. He had always figured the symbiote had become overwhelmingly angry with him after he forced it off. Thinking about who the host could possibly be, he remembered that the host's interests are combined with the symbiote's and came to the conclusion that Gwen Stacy had run into the symbiote at some point after he had disengaged it. Remembering that Gwen had been following him that night he was able to free himself, he figured she had simply been in its way. It all made sense. But it would be foolish for him to reveal that knowledge know; he would have to wait until later.

The symbiote kept moving that tentacle around his head and eventually forced it into his ear. As the black substance wriggled around in his head, Peter remembered the power, the exhilaration, the constant energy the symbiote provided, and a part of him _did_ miss it. A part of him wanted to have the strength again. Suddenly he realized that the symbiote was trying to influence his mind and he focused himself again.

The symbiote pulled the tentacle from his head and hissed, "**We see the truth! You do miss us!"**

Peter answered back, "Try again, tar head." In a fit of anger, the symbiote let out a menacing howl and whipped Peter, who was still wrapped in the webbing, back against a brick wall. As the webbing hit the wall, small fissures formed. Peter, sensing the opportunity, wriggled around just enough to weaken them, realizing She-Venom would probably whip him back the other way.

Just as he figured, She-Venom pulled on the webbing to whip him back towards the edge of the roof. But, as she pulled, the webbing around Peter tore and instead hit her in the face, releasing Peter. Realizing his moment of opportunity, Peter shot two lines of webbing toward the surprised symbiote woman in an attempt to subdue her. One lines attached itself to the symbiote's chest and the other attached itself to the symbiote's right arm. However, instead of subduing the monster, the webbing only served to anger it, and it grabbed the web lines and flung Peter over its head, over the side of the building, and onto the roof of the adjoining building.

Peter struggled with all his energy to get up, but he could not. The two impacts had robbed him of his normally superhuman strength, leaving him exhausted. Just before he passed out, he looked up and saw She—Venom. She again shot out webbing at him, encasing all of his body in black webbing.

"**We will meet again, and next time you won't leave the same person!" ** She-Venom cackled. To add insult to injury, She-Venom formed a mouth complete with jagged teeth, stuck out her tongue, and licked all over Peter's mask, causing it to dissolve. As soon as she had done that, the tongue, teeth, and mouth disappeared. She-Venom then shot out a new web line and swung away.

Landing back at her bedroom window, Mary Jane willed the symbiote to recede and form the usual pajama ensemble she wore to bed. Mary Jane walked towards the bed to get in for a good night's rest, but suddenly the symbiote formed itself back over her.

"**What now? Are we out for more? Look, we went too far tonight. Peter got hurt pretty badly this time. And since when do we have a long tongue?"**

"**The tongue and mouth are another aspect that we are now close enough to share. We are now fully bonded."**

"**Cool!"**

"**Yes."**

"**Okay; I really think we should reveal our secret identity to Peter tomorrow."**

"**Yes; we are ready."**

"**Let's surprise him with dinner. We shall go as Mary Jane and then come in later as She-Venom."**

"**Yes; a great idea. "**

…

"**We sense you are conflicted."**

"**It's just that…I don't know," **Mary Jane remarked.

"**About what?"**

"**We really did hurt him pretty badly; then we humiliated him; was that really necessary? I mean, couldn't we just have left him there?"**

"**Yes, we could have left him there. But now he will be curious as to our human identity and will be all the more eager to see you."**

"**Are we sure?"**

"**Yes; Peter was going to do the same thing with you in showing you our true identity, but we became separated."**

"**Oh…we guess then that that would be okay…Yeah! We'll surprise him tomorrow!"**

"**Yes, but for now," **the symbiote answered, forming her pajama ensemble again, **"we must rest."**

"**Agreed." **Mary Jane climbed into bed and pulled the covers over her head. It had been a long but fun day. She couldn't wait to finally reveal her alter ego to Peter.

But inwardly, the symbiote grinned. It knew the time had come to make its move. As Mary Jane drifted off to the sanctuary of her dreams, the symbiote burrowed deep into the recesses of her mind, layering itself over every synapse, preparing itself for the battle that would soon come. There would be an intense mental struggle, and it would have to fight valiantly to win. The day of reckoning was coming…


	10. The End of the Beginning

Chapter 10

_Disclaimer: All characters mentioned herein are property of Marvel Entertainment_

MJ was glad to be finally revealing her alter ego to her best friend. After the clock tower incident, she found it was too difficult for her to maintain such a front. All of her work to get to know him would be brought to fruition tonight. She had a great plan in which she was going to surprise Peter with her second self at the diner where he gave her the silver pendant. She had rented the entire diner out so they could be alone. They would go together and she would get him to start talking about his day. She would sympathize. Then she would get up and get a special gift she had waiting in their car for him and come back bearing the gift as the symbiote woman. Excited, she called Peter.

Brrrring! Brrrrring! Peter's telephone rang. Reaching a hand out of bed, he picked it up. Before he could get out a single "hello" an excited voice came through from the other end.

"Hey tiger! How ya doin'?" It was Mary Jane.

"Oh, Mary Jane; fine, I guess."

"Did I catch you at a bad time?"

"No; I had a tough night on the job." He still ached from the past two times he had fought Venom.

"Well get up! It's 8:00! Go to work! But work hard and don't work late…it's time for a night on the town!"

"Huh!" Peter was confused. He had never heard MJ initiate something like this before. "Uuhhhh, okay. What time?"

"Duh, silly! Seven o'clock! Be there or be square!"

"Ok, sure. Bye." Peter was now even more confused. Peter had never heard her play around with him like this before. Maybe the new part she was trying for required it. Maybe she was taking too much medication. Either way, it was a strange change for her, but she liked it. She had never been so cheerful before; it had always been melancholy and downtrodden. Now that he thought about it, this was something Peter was really looking forward to.

MJ walked into the jewelry store that was close to her apartment. Looking around, she marveled at the beautiful assortment of gems and stones. Finally something caught her eye—a heart shaped pin that looked identical to the one Peter had given her only a short few days ago. She bought it, feeling great happiness with herself, and smiled, knowing that this was going to be the best night they had ever spent together.

That day, Peter raced through work. He was ecstatic about just seeing MJ's surprises for this night! Even another threatened firing from Jameson couldn't get him down. Even being assigned to something as dull as taking photos of the annual youth squirrel chase couldn't keep him down. Tonight he was going to be able to just be himself with MJ, no fighting criminals, no trying to keep the peace. Tonight was their night.

Until early that evening. Peter had taken a cab because he wanted to keep his outfit looking nice and the cab had gotten caught in traffic on its way from Times Square, where he had picked out a bouquet of flowers, on its way to MJ's apartment. When he finally did get there, he was fifteen minutes late. As the cab pulled up, MJ was waiting for him on the curb. Peter stared at her in disbelief for a moment; she was wearing a small dress with white gloves and a matching purse.

"Bad luck with taxis?" she asked.

"Yeah; second one today. I was late getting back to the _Bugle _headquarters from shooting that ridiculous squirrel chase in Central Park. Jameson fired me twice today. These are for you."

"Oh tiger, they're beautiful!" she exclaimed. "And don't worry about the whole late thing. Let's just jump in my car and go to dinner."

"Car? You have a car?"

"Come on, silly. I just finished playing one of the major leads in a Broadway hit. You don't think they pay me well?" The two of them walked through her apartment complex to the garage in the back. There stood a beautiful red convertible, much like the one MJ had dreamt of that first night she had unknowingly been bonded to the symbiote. MJ took Peter by the hand, leading him excitedly to the passenger side. She all but shoved him in in excitement and jumped over the driver's side door, landing right in the seat. MJ started the car and they sped off into the night.

As they approached the diner, Peter saw that it was empty. Inquiring about that, MJ told him that she had rented the entire diner for the night, and so it would be a romantic evening all by themselves. Peter liked the sound of that. The two young people walked in towards a candlelit table in the far corner of the room and sat down.

After the waitress had taken their dinner orders, MJ asked Peter, "So, why don't you tell me about some of your webslinging adventures?"

"Wow MJ; you've never really been interested in that before; why now?"

"Oh I don't know; curious I guess. I know the real Peter Parker; tell me about his other half!"

"Well, uh, okay," Peter answered tentatively. Peter began sharing about his battles with past enemies, like Norman Osborne, Doctor Octopus his trials with Venom. He reminisced about always being close to defeat but managing to pull out a victory.

When Peter talked about Venom, MJ began to pressure him, asking, "So what all about this Venom character? What do you suppose happened after that night at the bell tower?"

"Well," he answered tentatively, "I have fought Venom three times now, and it seems like the host keeps getting stronger. I am wondering if she realizes that the symbiote will lure her into believing she is in control and then turn on her to take over her mind."

Peter was completely oblivious that MJ was bonded with the symbiote and so was unaware that he was striking a nerve as he spoke. MJ felt a swell of anger come up in her, but she held it back, knowing that this would never happen to her.

"What, all of a sudden, makes you so interested in my exploits as Spiderman?" Peter asked.

"Well, let me just say that I am trying to understand you. I mean, I want to be closer to you; I feel like I know about Peter Parker, but I don't know anything about Spiderman. I want you to know I am here for you; I love you tiger." Leaning over, MJ pressed her lips against Peter's. The two kissed for a moment, and then MJ pulled back, saying, "Wait here just a minute tiger. I've got something for you in the car and I will be right back." Peter flashed her a slight grin as she walked out the door to get the small box that held the pin.

Meanwhile, Peter sat in the diner, not really knowing what to think. On one hand, he was glad MJ was curious. He was glad to hear that she cared about how well he was doing at fighting crime. But at the same time, he was confused. After all, this really _was_ the very first time she had asked. Furthermore, the kiss they shared seemed so awkward; it was as if she was not really there. She just seemed to be so scattered as she talked. No matter though; Peter figured it was just excitement for the night. It really was great, and MJ really had gone to a lot of trouble to pull it off. Dismissing the inconsistencies as bravado meant to impress him, he simply sat there and waited for her like he had a few days ago when they had planned to meet for breakfast.

Back at the car, MJ reached into the back for the small box. Pulling it from the seat cushion, she quickly willed the symbiote back over her body. The black gown flowed down her legs, up and over her torso, and finally over her head. But something was different. She felt it thrusting itself forward, pervading her mind while it shouted over her now soft thoughts. The symbiote no longer cradled her mind; now it melded with it, creating one mind, one mix of Mary Jane and alien creature.

MJ physically struggled for control of her body as the symbiote kept wriggling around inside of her. She felt it filling her up in a new frightening way. In a fit of desperation, she let out a fierce scream. But, instead, it came out as a half—human howl as the symbiote changed from the simple suit of blackness. Long, slender tentacles flowed out of her head where her hair once was. The oval white eye patches sharpened into jagged lightning bolts. A hideous maw full of jagged white teeth appeared where MJ's mouth once was. Out from that maw came a long, slender pink tongue, darting from side to side. Green ooze dripped from the tongue as it slithered around. MJ watched in horror as her muscles grew to gigantic ovals and veins bulged out along the sides of them. MJ looked down at her hands as she had done the first time the symbiote had shown itself. Razor sharp claws slowly grew and replaced her fingers.

Suddenly the soft voice that had been helping her, instructing her, grew into a shouting one. MJ fell to the ground, her head throbbing with pain. In a final act of desperation she thrust her hand up into the air, but it suddenly stiffened and dropped back down. The new figure stood to its feet and gave out a cackling laugh. What was left of the old MJ was trampled with the small box that held the pin. Now there only stood an enraged, savage, beast with traces of a former young woman slowly flaking away. The new MJ exclaimed, "We live! She-Venom has risen!"

Peter was beginning to grow worried at his table. What if MJ had been grabbed by a mugger? Before he could react and his Spider sense could warn him, the front window of the diner shattered into small pieces. Following the mess, a dark figure jumped in. Peter moved to fire a web line at the figure, but it dodged the line and brought a wedge-shaped hammer down upon his head. Peter, with fuzzy vision that was quickly fading, looking up at a black figure. The figure stopped for a moment, seemingly gloating in its work, and leapt back through the window.

Splash! Peter felt wetness on his face. Gradually he woke up. Looking around, he saw the owner of the restaurant dabbing at his face with a cloth. Remembering the dark figure, Peter got up and proceeded to run towards the broken window. But something caught his eye. A folded piece of paper sat on the bar. As Peter picked it up and unfolded it, MJ's heart pendant fell out. Something had been hastily scribbled onto the back of it. It read:

Parker you fool! You left us!

You gave us ultimate dishonor!

Now we have your precious Mary Jane!

Come to the site of the laboratorywhere we first met

Or MJ will be seeing black…


End file.
